The Pure Ones' Revenge
by eatorbeaten
Summary: A new generation of Guardians struggles to defeat the Pure Ones once more but what happens when unknown to them, a spy is harbored in their hallow? Can they defeat the Pure Ones who seem stronger than ever?
1. Character List

Character list:

Main Characters:

Shira Scandiaca

Icy blue snowy owl, Nyctea Scandiaca, with huge strong wings and a long tail. Guardian of the great tree. Great fighter. In Red's navigation chaw with Akako and Harley.

Akako

Reddish snowy owl, Nyctea Scandiaca. Shira's best friend. Strong flyer. Guardian of the great tree. In Red's navigation chaw with Shira and Harley.

Harley

Blue snowy owl, Nyctea Scandiaca. Guardian at the great tree. In Red's navigation chaw with Akako and Shira. Strong fighter and has a crush on Shira.

Red

Reddish great horned owl, Bubo Virginianus, the dignified young navigation ryb at the great tree. Has a strong gizzard and good at combat.

Yang

Gray and almost black barn owl, Tyto Alba, King of Hoole.

Frost

Grayish barn owl, Tyto Alba, Queen of Hoole.

Twili

Black and white barn owl, Tyto Alba, Guardian at the great tree. Head of the search and rescue chaw.

July

Burrowing owl, Speotyto Cunicularius, head of the tracking chaw.

Icicle

White snowy owl, Nyctea Scandiaca, librarian of the Great Tree.

Leaf

Brown and cream tabby she-cat with amber eyes. Young ryb of the ground navigating chaw. Mate of Shadow.

Shadow

Tortoiseshell tom with golden eyes, ground navigator. Leaf's mate.

Kabe

White she-cat with red markings. Ground navigator at the great tree.

The Pure Ones:

Yin

Black barn owl, Tyto Alba. Leader of the Pure Ones, brother of Yang. Also known as "Lord Yin".

Eclipse

Ginger and white barn owl, Tyto Alba. Mate of Yin, second command of the Pure Ones. Also known as "Her Pureness Eclipse".

Zoghar

Albino barn owl, Tyto Alba, son of Yin. Third in command of the Pure Ones.

Shade

Female hagsfiend working under Yin.

Horr

Greater sooty owl, Tyto Tenebricosa, a pure guard lieutenant.

Thistle

Golden masked owl, Tyto Aurantia, a pure guard sublieutenant under Eclipse.

Moonlight

Young black and white barn owl with long, slender wings, Tyto Alba. High ranking owl and spies on the guardians. Intelligent and fearsome fighter. Fears Lord Yin.


	2. Prolouge

**I'm writing this with a friend, BlackHare042 and it's not that good but it's fun to write!  
>Please review and feel free to give us more ideas. Constructive criticism is appreciated.<br>Enjoy!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Prologue<p>

Dawn fell silently over the desolate land known as The Beaks. A chilly breeze blew the dry, gritty dust off the rocky surface, casting a red "fog" to the steep, treacherous cliffs. The thin tufts of clouds in the scarlet dawn sky eerily looked as if they were stained with deep crimson blood.

The Mirror Lakes reflected the wavering shadow of a passing owl. The surface of the lake shivered as an unusually coloured female barn owl, black and white with long elegant wings, glided over it, ripples emerging from the water as the owl's wings disturbed the surface of the lake.

The barn owl looked around cautiously, turning her head completely around. After seeing no one, she gradually increased her speed and hurtled into a thin crack, barely visible, in the cliff face. As she flew into a long, windy, dark tunnel that was dug into the hard rock, she clenched the parchment in her beak tightly, almost tearing it, terrified that it would be yanked out of her grasp and impaled on the sharp rocks below. She would be punished most dreadfully if such important information was lost.

After awhile of flying, (she was too nervous to measure the time) the tunnel ended so abruptly that she almost crashed into the stone. At the end, there was a doorway guarded by a couple of masked owls supervised by a barn owl.

"Halt! Who's there?" Screeched the barn owl, eyes narrowing, clearly suspicious of the newcomer, despite the fact she was also a barn owl.

"It's me! The spy at the tree of Ga'Hoole!" The black and white barn owl answered, "I have come to see Lord Yin..."

"Say not the name of the tree! Had you uttered that name in the presence of Lord Yin, you would've had your tongue cut out!" The barn owl hissed at the spy as the two masked owls moaned at the mention of the Great Tree.

"Take me to Lord Yin. If this information does not reach him, I shall have you three guards pay."

"Wait here…." The guarding barn owl replied, obviously disgusted at the arrogance of the black and white barn owl. He spread his lengthy wings and signaled for the two masked owls to move aside and flew through the gate.

The female barn owl tried to barge in after him but the masked owls blocked her. Lord Yin would be most impatience. She sighed and rolled her eyes and waited, despite the fact that she could easily take down the two masked owls.

After what seemed like years to the spy, the guard returned and opened the gates.

"Lord Yin will see you now…" He grunted. The black and white barn owl observed fresh scratches oozing blood on his heart-shaped face.

The female barn owl spread her strong beautiful wings and flew inside and went up another dark tunnel that led her into a room carved out of black stone, obsidian. There, a black barn owl was elegantly sitting on a disturbing looking skull, an antlered skull at that. Perhaps it was one of the caribou from the empty range known as Beyond the Beyond. Lord Lin still looked out of a slit in the obsidian, gazing out into The Beaks.

"My lord..." She said, bowing carefully as she eyed her lord's claws, which were covered with a set of battle claws, sharp ones at that.

"Hmm?" The black barn owl turned around, eyeing the spy, almost scanning her. "Oh, good... You're the spy at that tree, I suppose. And I hope you brought me some useful news... Because if you haven't…." Lord Yin flexed his battle claws threateningly.

"The Guardians do not know that we have rebirthed... They still believed that we are almost completely nonexistent after that fool, Nyra, almost destroyed us completely with her impatience several generations ago. They believe that the remains of the Pure Ones are weak with no gizzards." She answered, "And I have brought you some important information about the red flecks from the Guardian's own library."

The black barn owl swooped down suddenly and snatched the parchment from her and flew back, cackling.

"Keep up the spying, young one, as they seem to suspect nothing... And when the time is right for us to take control, it's up to you to lure the Guardians right into our sharpened battle claws...I hope I can trust you. It would be such a shame to sacrifice a young _Tyto,_ a true barn owl at that, who has such potential…"

"Yes, my lord..." The young spy nodded eagerly.

"_Then..._" The leader of the Pure Ones clacked his beak menacingly._ "They will all know the true power of the Pure Ones... And they will all pay for what they did..."_

* * *

><p><strong>The first chapterprologue thing, DONE! I hope you people didn't mind that it's all new characters but it's funner and easier to write that way. Create your own character and all that. Hope you enjoyed it! I'll be uploading the second chapter tomorrow or something.**


	3. Chapter 1

**So here's the real chapter one! The one before was actually a prologue and I had to change a bunch of stuff so it was a bit messed up. -.-'' And that didn't make any sense, did it? Well whatever, just enjoy chapter one and review and stuff!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 1<p>

"It's gone! It's gone!" The wailing of the librarian woke everybody up and a loud grumbling came from every level of the Great Tree.

"What's gone? Icicle, you have got to chill. It's still broad daylight." Harley, a blue snowy owl, yawned, one eye still closed as he staggered towards the shrieking snowy owl.

"You don't understand, you stupid blue owl! You fighters never do! You're just not smart enough." The brainy snowy owl slapped Harley across his beak. "It's _gone!_ I must speak to King Yang at once!"

"No need, Icicle, I'm already here. Now tell me what's going on." A deep gray, almost black, barn owl, the Great King, blinked his two bleary eyes as he approached the librarian.

"Ow…" Harley muttered grumpily.

Frost ignored him. "Someone has stolen…" She whispered urgently into Yang's ear.

Yang's eyes widened. "If that ever fell into the claws of my brother…"

"What?" Demanded Harley, "Didn't we beat Yin the last time we fought? It wasn't much of a fight, anyways but isn't he dead or something?"

"Of course he's not dead. How could Lord Yin be dead?" A new voice, shriller, sliced through the mutterings of the crowd of owls. A slim black and white barn owl shouldered her way through the massive throng of owls.

"_Lord_ Yin?" Shira, a blue snowy owl with impressive wings, who had been listening up to that point, slowly blinked. "Since when did you call the leader of the Pure Ones lord? And why can't Yin be dead?"

"Well…" The black and white owl stammered, "That's what we call the Pure Ones in the stories, right? And it seems too soon for Lor- for Yin to die. They never died in the stories."

"In the _stories_…" Shira scoffed.

"However, Moonlight is right," the Great King rumbled, "In the olden days, how many times did the legendary king, Coryn think Nyra was dead before he finally sacrificed himself to kill her?"

"Still…." Shira eyed Moonlight carefully.

"Come, we must organize a council at once to discuss what has been stolen. Icicle, Harley, Shira, Akako, Red, July, Twili and… Moonlight. Come to the library immediately. And someone fetch Kabe." With that, the barn owl swept around and spread his wings, probably fetching his mate, Frost.

"I can't believe it's gone." Icicle whimpered, "It was my duty to protect it and now I have failed."

She spread her wings and flew off towards the library, sighing sadly.

"Icicle, wait!" Shira followed the librarian after a final glance at Moonlight.

One by one, the rest of the owls that cluttered the hollow flew away.

"The parchments about the secret of the red flecks are missing." The High King declared as he landed on a branch.

"Missing?"

"This can't be!"

"But how?"

"You mean stolen?"

"Silence!" The order broke through the babble. "We are not sure whether it has been stolen but it is certainly missing from its hiding spot. And only a select few know where that hiding spot is." Yang eyed all of the owls.

"Are you stating that we have a spy?" Kabe purred, a sleek white she-cat with almost sinister red markings on her forehead who was also the lead ground navigator, "We can't afford to have a spy with the Pure Ones rising and whatnot."

"The Pure Ones are not rising. They are dead!" Akako, a snowy owl tinged with a coppery red, ruffled her feathers and spread her wings, pummelling the air as she rose onto a branch.

"Or at least close to dead the last time we saw him…" Harley muttered.

"Young one, the Pure Ones are indeed rising and they have an insider at this Tree right now." Kabe licked her paw. "There was a reason I agreed to come into this cramped hollow and that was to tell you of our dear spy."

"We need to know who the spy is!" Shira looked at each owl, pausing a bit too long at Moonlight.

"Enough!" Yang buffered the air with his wings. "We cannot afford to waste time. We need a scout to investigate the Barrens and try and find the Pure Ones. We have no idea where the Pure Ones are but the Barrens is a good a place as any to start the search. That's where our last battle was. Moonlight! You're a fast flier, go to the Barrens and seek the Pure Ones immediately."

"Yes, mighty High King." Moonlight dipped her beak and spread her long, elegant wings and flew out of the library.

"King Yang, do you really trust Moonlight?" Shira asked the High King quietly.

"I trust her as I would trust you. She has proven her loyalty to me many times. Otherwise, she would not be part of this council, would she?"

"Very well," Shira looked away.

"Harley, double the guards on the remaining parchments. Make sure no one comes to the library without official authorization." King Yang dipped his beak towards the blue snowy owl.

"Yes, King Yang." Harley looked pleased with himself.

"Shira, I trust that you will protect the parchments with your life. I'm letting you to be the guarder of the parchment. Now that the Pure Ones have information about the red flecks, we cannot afford to let them to learn anything about silver flecks, the rarest and most deadly flecks of all." King Yang swept his wing across Shira's shoulder in the traditional way to honour the Guardian.

"And what about yourself, oh High King?" Kabe questioned as she played with her tufty tail.

"I will train a chaw of the finest fighters to invade the Barrens. I will also root out the spy." King Yang sighed.

"Careful, King Yang. The spy may stop you before you can know the truth." Akako gazed at the king with real concern.

"I will be alright. Now you are dismissed."

King Yang and Queen Frost flew out of the library, possibly discussing the danger the tree of Ga'Hoole was in.

When Shira made sure that the king was gone, she huddled in a corner with Harley and Akako.

"I'm almost positive that Moonlight is the spy." She hissed, "Did you see that she called the leader of the Pure Ones Lord Yin? Only Pure Ones do that."

"What? You're crazy, Moonlight would never be the spy. She's so kind and nice and kind…" Harley protested.

"I usually regard Harley as stupid and undependable but I agree with him this time. Moonlight would never be the spy, not in a hundred years. I can feel it in my gizzard." Akako calmly replied to Shira's suspicions.

"Your gizzard," snorted Shira, "Well my gizzard says the she's the spy, plain and simple."

"Well why did King Yang trust her to investigate the Pure Ones? If she was the spy, than King Yang would basically be sealing our death warrant, wouldn't he? I trust King Yang." Replied Akako stubbornly.

Shira could see the logic behind Akako's words.

"Well… Maybe I was wrong then…" Shira said hesitantly. "But there is someone who is a spy here."

"We all know that, genius." Laughed Harley, "Now why don't you help me find some guards for the library.

"Well… Okay!" Shira brightened up immediately. "They'll have to pass my fighting exam first, though."

"Since when could anyone beat you in a fight?" Akako snorted, "Other that Harley, of course." She added.

"We'll see." Shira similed, "I'll find a couple of guards, just you see."

As night fell, a single barn owl, with black and white feathers, flew towards The Beaks. She flapped her long elegant wings rapidly, gaining speed.

She would make it there before daybreak. She only paused once in her lonely flight to hunt and after she ate a young, plump rabbit, she set off once more, silently swinging on, seeking the thin crevice where the remains of the Pure Ones hid.

She must tell her master what she had found out, especially information from the tree of Ga'Hoole.


	4. Chapter 2

**Umm... I felt like writing something but now, I have nothing to say... So just ignore this and on with the story! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 2<p>

"Great Glaux! Great Glaux!" Akako's burst into the dining hall and fluttered where Harley was and slapped him on the back. Harley spat out the half-eaten roasted lemming he was having for breaklight and glared at Akako.

"What are you yelling about? And what is a "Glaux"? And did anyone tell you it's not nice to slap people especially when they're eating?" Harley stared at Akako accusingly as he coughed up bits of fur and bones that went down the wrong pipe.

"Well, I don't know what Glaux is; I saw it in an old library book on old sayings but enough about that." Akako explained to Harley briefly. "But it's Leaf! Her kits! She gave birth to her kits!"

"Great Glaux, I wanna see the little kits, they must be so cute!" The cook, a plump, old spotted owl with shiny feathers flew towards the two snowy owls.

"Am I the only one who doesn't know what "Glaux" is?" Harley wolfed down another roasted lemming.

"Oh, Cook read the book with me when we visited the library," Akako took the time to explain to Harley. "But I really wanna see the kits!"

"'Wanna' is not a word, at least not a proper one…" Shira swooped down among them, smiling. "I'm hungry, anymore roasted lemmings?"

"Dear, you're like Harley now, always pigging out on the roasted lemmings." Cook brought a whole platter of roasted lemmings to Harley's table. Harley's eyes widened at the sight of all the food and started stuffing his beak with them.

"Who cares about whether "wanna" is a word or not!" Akako rolled her eyes impatiently, "Come on! Let's go see them!"

"Nah…" Harley turned away and shook his head, still rapidly swallowing roast lemmings.

"What!" Akako yelled, "I came all the way back here to tell you about the kits, and when I offer you to go see them, you say 'nah'? Fine, I don't need you, come on Shira, let's go!"

"No thanks." Shira was eating almost as fast as Harley.

"You two, get off your butts. I know Shira's hungry after the patrol but you, Harley, you have no excuse. Besides, you both ate enough roast lemmings for the whole Tree!" Akako pushed Harley off his branch and dragged Shira off as well with her claws. "We're going to see the kits!"

"Wait!" Moaned Harley and Shira in unison, "The food…"

"I'll save it for you two though I really shouldn't. You already ate enough to feed a pack of dire wolves!" Cook shook her head at the two blue snowy owls as she picked up the now half empty platter of lemmings.

"Thanks Cook!" Akako beamed as she pushed her two friends through the door.

It took a while to drag the blue snowy owls to the nearest exit and took even longer to fly down to the nursery at the base of the Great Tree as both Harley and Shira were stuffed full of food. The moment they entered the nursery, the motherly scent of warm milk reached even the owls' insensitive nostrils.

Harley could see the brown and cream tabby she-cat lying in a corner, against the mighty roots. Five healthy kits were beside her, fluffed out and curled against their mother.

"They're beautiful…" Leaf's mate, Shadow, a tortoiseshell tom with mysterious golden eyes, jumped down from one of the higher roots and purred, licking Leaf behind her ear.

Shira made a face when Shadow licked Leaf. "Eww…"

"Aww…" Harley jumped when Akako swooped over his head to inspect the kits even closer.

"Come on, you three…" Leaf prickled her ear as she looked at the trio of young owls lazily. "You can come closer."

"What are their names? They're soooooo cute!" Akako got so close to the kits, she almost fell on Leaf.

"The white tom's name is Snow," Shadow introduced, "The tortoiseshell she-cat is Tawny, the silver tabby she-cat is Echo, the black tom is Fell, and the cream and brown tabby she-cat is Kestrel."

"Wonderful!" Akako was really excited, "Oh, aren't they just spectacular?" Harley rolled his eyes. "Shira, you got to get closer."

"I'll skip. I don't get well with young ones." Shira edged closer to the exit when Kabe came in, a leaf bundle hanging from her jaws.

"Shadow, Leaf," Kabe dipped her head respectfully. "I do hope your kits are doing well. I have given myself the privilege to hunt for you two. I found this on a nearby island." Kabe dropped the leaves, revealing a large plump and tender rabbit wrapped inside all the layers of leaves.

"Kabe, you shouldn't have. And look, you're all wet from swimming." Leaf gazed at the lead ground navigator with affection.

"I wrapped the rabbit with those waxy leaves to keep it dry and tasty. You wouldn't want salt over your prey." Kabe's eyes twinkled in a pleasant manner.

"Rabbit…" Harley eyed the fresh-kill longingly.

"Young Guardians, with all due respect, you should leave Leaf for some rest now. I believe your meal, _tweener_, is coming up." Kabe regarded the three snowy owls as she chased them away.

"Okay…" Akako answered as she spread her wings, "Bye Leaf! I can't wait to play with your kits!"

Waving good-bye to Leaf, Harley, Shira and Akako flew back into the dinning hall and went to their usual table- Twili's table.

"Here you go dears…" Cook brought a fresh platter of food, this time barbequed voles. Shira and Harley proceeded to eat as fast as they could as Akako rolled her eyes.

"They have large stomachs," Twili, a black and white barn owl, observed.

"Ya…" Akako smiled shyly.

"What?" Harley glanced up, three or four short, stubby vole tails the centipede and tossed it in the air before grabbing it again with dangling from his stuffed beak.

"Nothing-" Began Akako.

"They're insulting us for eating," Declared Shira as she swallowed a huge mouthful. "I'm going to eat the rest, Harley…"

"What? No!" The two blue owls dived back into their eating contest.

"Dessert, dears," Cook fluttered by, serving a platter of jelly.

Tonight's dessert special was the delicious insect jelly that Cook rarely made. There were different types of bugs hidden in the jelly. Every owl looked forward to getting a slug for they were the rarest and the most delicious.

"I got a centipede!" Harley snatched it up in his beak, munching loudly, a few legs falling out.

"I got a Monarch caterpillar…" Akako said with no interest as she looked at her jelly with disgust, "And I absolutely hate Monarch caterpillars. Makes me feel sick."

"What is it?" Harley, who just swallowed his centipede, glanced at Akako's jelly, "Ooooo… Monarch caterpillar, can I have it?" Akako eyed the caterpillar with disgust and pushed the plate to Harley.

"Yay!" Harley, afraid that Akako would change her mind, swiftly snapped the caterpillar in his beak and sat back on his branch, sated.

"Shira, would did you get?" Twili glanced at the blue owl.

"Slug," Shira declared smugly. "It was delicious."

"Lucky," grumbled Harley.

The bell at the very top of the Great Tree sounded, a bell only used for great emergencies. The noisy dinning hall suddenly fell into deep silence. Without warning, the door to the dinning hall burst open as Red, the great horned owl who was the navigation ryb, stumbled in.

Gasping for breath, Red spoke hoarsely, "Your Majesty Yang! Moonlight has return from the Barrens! And it looks like she's hurt…"

Moonlight moaned in pain. Her whole body ached and she had a fever. A damp cloth had been placed on her forehead but it had made no difference. She shuddered. As she blinked, everything swam in her vision and she could just barely make out the shapes of several owls around her.

"What happened?"

"She has a fever."

"Hush, you're disturbing her."

The voices, they were just too loud. Why couldn't they be quiet? They were giving her a headache with all their rambling. She recalled the events of the past few nights…

She had departed the Tree of Ga'Hoole on the orders of the High King. Moonlight had flew as fast as she could, eager to bring her master the discovery of even more powerful flecks, the silver flecks. She flew on to the Beaks, despite being ordered to go to the Barrens. After all, the Pure Ones weren't at the Barrens. After she zoomed in to the thin rock crevice, the guards let her in at once, learning what Lord Yin would do to them if she was delayed and she was taken to have an audience with Lord Yin, His Pureness, the leader of the Pure Ones.

This time, his mate, the ginger and white barn owl, Eclipse had been with him. She acknowledged both the High Tyto and Her Pureness Eclipse. She told Lord Yin that there were parchments about silver flecks, flecks much more powerful than the red flecks. She also informed that the Guardians were aware of a spy but only Shira suspected her. Lord Yin had been outraged by Moonlight, saying that she had not been careful enough. Her Pureness only regarded Moonlight with obvious disdain.

His Pureness ordered Moonlight to swipe the information about the silver flecks as soon as possible and to bring it to him immediately. High Tyto then thought out loud how to reassure the Guardians that Moonlight was not the spy. It was then when Her Pureness had smiled for the first time in the presence of Moonlight. Moonlight could still remember what she said, word for word.

"My Lord, what better way than to reassure the Guardians than to make it appear that our lovely spy here is not the spy than to injure her severely? Surely they would believe that our spy is innocent once that lovely face and those beautiful wings are destroyed. She would then appear as a warning the Pure Ones have given the Guardians. What would you say?"

Her Pureness was as cunning as they say. High Tyto had agreed and two guards pinned her down while Lord Yin himself slashed at Moonlight's feathers. The pain had been excruciating and she had cried out. Her Pureness had laughed and Lord Yin continued to attack her. In the end, when she could barely crawl, let alone fly, Lord Yin had ordered his guards to push Moonlight out of the crevice.

Once she had been taken out of the High Tyto's presence, the barn owl guard had treated her most horridly and shoved Moonlight out of the tunnel and she dropped like a stone. After much beating of her wings, she managed to fly and began the painful journey back to Ga'Hoole. She could barely fly and in the end, had plummeted back onto the island where Kabe had found her during one of her scouting trips.

Perhaps the Lord of the Pure Ones was not as great after all but she must remain loyal. She would be most honoured if she stuck through till the end.

Moonlight took a deep breath and her eyes involuntarily closed. Her breathing soon evened out and Moonlight looked peaceful lying there as she slept.


	5. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Shira was pleased with herself as she stood guard over the parchment. She had finally found two adequate guards to watch over the library. The spy would never get through. As she stood triumphant in the daylight, she could have sworn she heard a muffled thump. There it was again! Another thump! Shira was aware of someone, or something in the library with her. She spun around and came face to face with a cloaked owl.

The cloaked owl attacked and Shira noticed that the owl was wearing battle claws. The owl whirled around and managed to kick Shira in the chest, throwing her against a pile of books, knocking them over.

Shira was aware of a throbbing pain where the battle claws had pierced her skin and ripped her feathers but she ignored it as she flexed her own battle claws. Before Shira could get up, the cloaked owl struck again, this time clawing at Shira's face. Shira screamed in anguish as the owl struck yet again, claws stabbing at her wing.

Shira muffled another shriek of pain as she slowly got up. She would show this unknown owl who she was. She was after all, one of the best fighters at the tree.

Shira rocketed up but as she glanced down, she was shocked that this strange owl could keep pace with her. In fact, the cloaked owl was getting closer and closer and WHAM!

Shira was plummeting and she fell heavily on the wooden floor of the library. Her head was swimming and she realized the strange owl had just nipped at her wing. She struggled to get back up again and again but the strange owl would just attack her mercilessly.

Eventually, Shira had no strength to continue so when the cruel owl leaned closer to finish her off, Shira used her claws and grasped at the strange owl's chest feathers.

"Who are you?" Shira whispered, straining to catch a glimpse of the owl's feathers.

The owl did not answer but suddenly swooped down on Shira and struck her at the head. Blood flowed freely.

The strange owl whirled around and jabbed its battle claws at certain regions on the globe of the kingdom of Ga'Hoole. A series of clicks were heard and the globe split open, revealing the top secret information about silver flecks that King Yang and Queen Frost were going to analyze.

The mysterious owl snatched the parchment out and as she turned, Shira could see black and white feathers sticking out of the cloak. The strange owl walked with a slight limp and spread long, elegant wings and flew away. Right before Shira fainted away, she realized who the spy was.

"Twili…"

The next morning, Shira limped out of the infirmary, wounds plastered with herbs to the dining hall. She flew to her usual branch with Twili and confronted the black and white owl.

"It was you all along! I saw your black and white feathers last day. You're the spy!"

"Wait what?" Akako cocked her head, glancing at Shira but Shira ignored her best friend.

"Whoa, take it easy. I'm not the spy and what happened to you? You're all… bleeding." Twili looked truly puzzled at being accused of being the spy.

"Mummphh, muphh…" Harley's words were muffled by his fried mouse in his beak.

"Oh, you know exactly what happened to me, Twili. You attacked me! You're the spy from the Pure Ones. You stole the parchment about the silver flecks." Shira eyes darted wildly, voice getting shriller and shriller as she yelled at Twili.

"The information about the silver flecks got stolen?" Twili glanced from Harley to Akako wide-beaked. "Who stole it?"

"Stop pretending, spy! I just told said you are the traitor!" Shira seethed at Twili.

"Why are you blaming me? I'm your friend!" Twili protested, looking at Harley and Akako for backup.

"When you left me bleeding in that library, you turned and I saw your black and white feathers. It was you."

"But… But…" Twili stammered, "I'm not the only owl with black and white feathers around here. Weren't you suspecting Moonlight?"

"You know, Shira, she's got a point. Why aren't you blaming Moonlight as you usually do?" Harley tilted his head, considering other possibilities.

"Moonlight is in no shape to attack me. Twili is also a good fighter, she nearly killed me! You saw what Twili's master did to poor Moonlight, she can barely fly let alone defeat me!" By then, every owl in the dining hall was staring at Shira's and Twili's argument.

"You are the spy. You know you are." Shira stared hard into Twili's eyes before turning her head with obvious disdain.

"I'm not! Really! Why don't you trust me?" Twili was close to tears.

"Don't be fooled by her act. She just wants us to let down our guard." Shira called out to the entire dining hall.

"Stop being so STUPID!" With that, Twili spread her wings and plunged down at Shira and attacked her viciously. Suddenly, several owls, Guardians experienced in fighting, took flight and attacked Twili, pinning her to the hard, wooden ground.

"Someone summon the king. Tell him we have caught the spy." Shira picked out and owl from the dining hall and sent him flying towards the High King's chambers.

Soon after, the High King and Queen flew into the silent dining hall, disapproval in their golden eyes. They landed where the Guardians had pinned Twili down.

"We hear you are the spy." King Yang said, sorrow booming in every word.

"I'm not!" Cried Twili, "Why doesn't anyone believe me?"

"This spy attacked me in broad night! Look at me! Every wound on my body, every drop of blood I have spilt was because of her! And I thought she was my friend." Shira turned away from Twili's line of vision. A low muttering broke out in the hall.

"Silence." Queen Frost spoke, authority ringing in every syllable. "We do not know whether this young Guardian is indeed the spy. Is there any proof?"

"Yes, High Queen. There is indeed proof. Ask any owl in this dining hall right now and they will agree this spy attacked me." Shira raised her head and stared right into Queen Frost's great unblinking eyes.

"Very well. We must assume that Twili is the spy and we must take appropriate measures. Come." King Yang ordered the Guardians to bring Twili into the great chamber.

"I'm sorry to do this Twili as you have proved your greatness but I must for the sake of Ga'Hoole. From this moment on, Twili, you are Banished from the Great Tree and to interact with anyone from it. You can be attacked or killed on sight by any owl, from Ga'Hoole or not. You are now an outcast. If you dare return to the Great Tree or send another spy from the Pure Ones, you will be killed. You can tell your master, Yin, that you have failed in your task. Take her away." King Yang turned away from the struggling young owl.

"Please. I'm not the spy." Twili protested one last time, meeting the glances of all the owls and everyone looked away except for Shira.

"I know that I'll enjoy hunting you down and injuring you as you have done to me. An eye for an eye, after all." Shira's cruel words stung at Twili's heart.

The Guardians restraining Twili pushed her out of the Great Tree and chased after her until she was gone from sight. The owls all went back to the dining hall, a bit shocked but satisfied that the spy had been Banished. Queen Frost lingered the longest at the knothole.

"I wonder if our Guardians were too quick to accuse, to assume…" After staring out into the night sky, the Queen turned away, accepting the fact that one of her precious Guardians had gone rotten and turned evil.

"Are you sure it was Twili?" Akako had been persistently bugging Shira all day.

"Yes, I know it was her. Moonlight is the only owl with black and white feathers at Ga'Hoole and she's too injured to move. I must apologize to Moonlight for accusing her of being the spy when it was Twili all along. I wonder what went wrong with her." Shaking her head, Shira flew on.

"Are you _sure_?" Akako asked once more.

"Yes!" Snapped Shira, "Of course I'm sure."

"Um… Why don't we go visit Leaf's kittens again? I'm sure the cats would want to know about Twili's Banishment." Harley butted into the conversation, desperately trying to change the subject.

Akako perked up immediately. "Okay!" She chirped happily and took off at once.

"Wait for me!" Harley looked at Shira. "Are you coming? You know you want to…" Harley smiled, shaking his tail feathers.

"No, you go ahead. I think I'll go see Moonlight." Shira drifted off into the direction of the infirmary.

"Suit yourself." Harley shrugged and flew after Akako.

After her two best friends were gone, Shira wondered for a moment if she really had Banished the wrong person and the spy was really Moonlight. Shira shrugged the thought off and beat her wings furiously.

Over the Sea of Hoolemere, a black and white owl was flying aimlessly around in circles. She had been Banished from her home. The shock of it still sent Twili reeling.

Well she'll show them, especially that Shira for assuming too soon. She'll show them. She'll bring back the real spy for the Pure Ones and make King Yang accept her back into the Guardians.

Yes, she will hunt down that spy, no matter where she had to go. Anywhere was better than here where bitter memories remained.

Filled with purpose once more, Twili flapped her strong wings silently and headed towards the Barrens under the full moon's shining light.


End file.
